Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method and a pharmaceutical composition for inflammation and/or liver fibrosis treatment; more specifically, to a method and a pharmaceutical composition for inflammation and/or liver fibrosis treatment by using a Spiranthes sinensis extract.
Description of Related Art
Spiranthes sinensis, commonly known as the Chinese Spiranthes, is a species of orchid occurring in much of eastern Asia, west to the Himalayas, south and east to New Zealand, and north to Siberia. Previous phytochemical investigations of Spiranthes sinensis showed the presence of dihydrophenanthrenes, sterols, homocyclotirucallane (Lin, Huang et al. 2000, Lin, Wang et al. 2001), two new prenylated coumarins (Peng, Han et al. 2008) and one novel dimeric phenanthrene and flavone (Li, Liu et al. 2013). However, the medicinal properties of Spiranthes sinensis crude extract and its phytochemicals is still unexplored yet.
Inflammation is recognized as an onset of immune response for infections or disorders of a subject. However, it is also noted that inflammation may also be harmful to a subject if it is out of control, for example, in an allergy response. Moreover, overly (exuberant) wound healing usually happens from the recovery of severe and out-of-control inflammation, which may result in fibrosis in tissues and then lead to carcinogenesis. Case in point, liver fibrosis occurs during inflammation of liver tissue and is recognized to be involved in cirrhosis and liver cancer. Although inflammation is parts of the defense mechanism of immune system, it is important to appropriately reduce the degree of inflammation in necessary.
Liver fibrosis is scarring process, on behalf of the liver damage response. Liver fibrosis is overly (exuberant) wound healing in which excessive connective tissue builds up in the liver. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is overproduced, degraded deficiently, or both. Over time this process can lead to the cirrhosis of liver, once the development of cirrhosis and severe complications might occur including portal hypertension, liver failure, and liver cancer.
In light of the foregoing, as Spiranthes sinensis is expected to have potentials in pharmaceutical applications, further researches of Spiranthes sinensis in applications of treating inflammation and/or liver fibrosis are required for improving the economic value of Spiranthes sinensis. 